


Footage

by Skullszeyes



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Car Accidents, Car Chases, Crying, Dark, Found Footage, Friendship, Hitchhiking, Horror, Injury, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Kissing, M/M, Mystery, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person Limited, Romance, Short, Slash, Slow Build, Stalking, Survival Horror, Swearing, Tags May Change, Thriller, Unreliable Narrator, Video Cameras, Violence, the camera is the pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:56:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27212302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: One thing leads to another, but where is this going?
Relationships: Brock Barrus/Brian Hanby, Evan Fong/Jonathan | H2ODelirious, John | KryozGaming/SMii7Y
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

_**10/26/2020** _

_**4:30am** _

* * *

A stream of light flickered out amongst the darkness. It was soon followed by low panting. “There it is.” A man with black hair held the camera in his hand that had been left on the floor. He was shaking as he examined it before leaving the room. The camera was lowered to the ground, staring at dirty white shoes, there was even a stain of red on the side as he descended the stairs and walked out of the house. 

By then, the camera’s battery was too low, and it died.


	2. Street

**5:32am**

* * *

Dim light. A confined space, a deep breath, followed by muffled yelling on the other side of a glass window in the backseat of a car. He pushed open the door and the voices grew as the camera adjusted to the low light shining down on a few people.

“Son of a bitch,” the camera is turned toward a smaller man with a mop of brown hair, he’s wearing a long brown coat, and is scowling at two other men exiting their cars, “I knew you would be back.”

The tallest of the group scowled as he shoved keys into his pocket. “Nice seeing you too, SMii7y.”

Another man stood to the far right, he had a black coat on and curly brown hair, his voice much more smoother than the others, “Where’s —” The camera glitched, the words muffled, the yelling resumed.

“I was at the house,” the one holding the camera says, and the attention is pulled to him as a few notice the camera in his hand. “I didn’t see him, but I did find this,” he shakes the camera, “no tape, nothing...but he was there, it was way too messy.”

They all seem contemplative before the tallest one sighs. “Alright. We don’t know where Brock is, and I’m sure if we head back to —” the glitches go on for several seconds, and the moment the camera smoothed out, half of the group is sprinting back to their cars.

“Shit, hurry up, Evan!”

He grunts, reaching for the handle to the door as the sound of smashed glass is heard from somewhere close by, including tires squealing on the road as two cars are gone while Evan pulled the door open, he’s half in as the camera falls to the floor, and someone is dragging him the rest of the way inside the car.

The rest is too obscure as the glitches go on for an extended time until the camera goes out.


	3. Regression

_**6:32am** _

* * *

“Anthony, do you think it’s broken?” Evan asked, the camera pointed up at him, then he turned toward the passenger seat where one of his other friend’s sits. The sky is a lighter blue, turning to early morning, and the car itself is turned off.

Anthony waves his hand, then Evan passes him the camera. It stares at him for a second as he turns his head to peer into the camera, then plays with the setting. It zooms in and out, then the camera is turned off.

It comes back a few seconds after.

* * *

_**6:35am** _

“It’s fine...maybe what happened back at the house fucked it up.”

“Maybe.” The camera is given back to Evan as the side door on his end is opened, including the door to the driver’s side. Two people enter the car, both of them sighing.

“So?” Anthony asks.

“I got us some food that will last us until the end of the day, two bottles of juice—”

“He means about the others, did you get into contact with them?” Evan asked, turning the camera toward the two. The one beside him smiles, his hair is dark and he has a mustache, he’s also wearing a thick green jacket and dark grey mitts.

“No,” the one in the driver’s seat says, sniffling. He has a strong accent. “I tried SMii7y’s phone, but he isn’t answering. Nor is Kryoz...I then tried Tyler, but nothing.”

“We're fucked,” the one beside Evan also speaks with an Irish accent, “or at least we're on our own until we know what is happening, but we’re still fucked.

“That’s great,” the one in the passenger seat mutters.

“I think we should go back to the house,” Evan tells them. “Maybe we’ll be able to find out what happened to —”

The camera glitches out for several seconds until Evan turns the camera off.

By the time it’s back on, the time says 8:02am.

He’s getting out of the car alongside the rest of his friends and follows two of them up the sidewalk toward a house.

“Did you leave the door open?” the driver asks. His hair is short and brown, and wearing a black coat. He smiles briefly at the camera.

“Yeah, of course I did,” Evan says, then passes him a key. “I’m also not an idiot, so here.”

The driver takes the key and unlocks the door. They walk inside. It’s dark and it takes one of them to push the curtains to the side for the other to swear at them.

“Close them, we’re practically breaking and entering.”

“Alright, but it’s fucking dark in here.”

“You brought your flashlight?” the one with the green coat asks from somewhere near the entrance to the house.

Evan is already fishing into his pocket for his own, and the lens upon the camera blurs for a second as it adjusts to the light. “I found the camera up here…” he walks up the stairs, the others follow him.

“Did —” the camera glitches, “say anything about it?”

“Didn’t know he had one,” says Evan.

“—is surprising...he should’ve told us about what happened.”

They walk down the hall to a few different rooms. Evan goes back to the room where he found the camera and spots something different from the last time he had come there.

“Hey, I found something!”

They come running as Evan sets the camera down and reveals a small tape in his hand, including writing on the side of it.

“Was that there the last time you’ve been here?” Anthony asked.

“No...should I play it.”

“If —” the glitch cuts out the rest of the audio until the camera blacks out.


	4. Switch

_10/25/2020_

_2:22pm_

* * *

* * *

A man with short brown hair appeared as the camera was turned on. He was sniffling as he sat outside on the front stairs. He checked over the camera. Then turned the camera toward a black car slowing beside the curb then stopping.

He stood and walked over to a tall man with blonde hair and a goatee. He was tall and muscled, and was smirking. “You found it.”

“I did ask where it was...I might give it back if they ask.”

“Seems fun, what else did you tape?”

“I just bought some batteries and a few empty tapes, so nothing yet,” he zoomed in on his friend’s face. “You’re the first subject of my new crappy film —”

The camera glitched, then they were standing in a kitchen. The both of them looking at a piece of paper, one of them sighing.

“Have you asked the others?” the one with the goatee asked.

“No. I wasn’t sure if it was going to matter by then.”

The paper crumples as the camera moves and they’re both out of view. The whispers are too indistinguishable to make out.

There’s a drawn out silence for about fifteen seconds until the camera is lifted off the table, then moved toward the hall, and over to the back door. The man with the goatee is lying on the grass outside. The door is open, and the wind distorts the sound.

“I didn’t mean it...I swear, you can have this, just leave him the fuck alone!”

There’s another voice, but it’s too difficult to make out. All of it distorting until the tape rewinds, and they’re both standing on the other side of the table.

“You should give him the key,” he whispers.

“I will...but we should get out of here before…”

The camera distorts again, then goes out.

* * *

_**10/26/2020** _

_**7:50am** _

“That was Jonathan,” Evan says, holding the tape and passing it to Anthony. “And Luke.”

“From what we just heard, Johnny bought himself a few tapes and batteries,” the one with the short brown hair says almost contemplatively.

“None of this makes any sense,” Evan said. The three of them twist around when a loud banging is heard from downstairs.

“Panda! Brian! Evan!”

“Shit,” Evan muttered as they all sprint from the room. The camera distorts for a second as a solid shadow stands at the other end of the hall, but Evan is too preoccupied with running down the stairs. The front door is open, and the camera glitches out when there’s a loud ear splitting sound, followed by glass shattering onto the street.

* * *

_**10/26/2020** _

**_10:01am_ **

The camera flickers on and a man with dried blood on his face is smiling at the camera. “Hello. I’m not sure who is going to end up with this fucking thing, but I’m Brian, friend to Evan, Anthony, and David...but we call him Nogla from time-to-time.” He looks up and frowns. “I’m going to have to edit this once I find my laptop…long story, I know, we should’ve taped more, but a few hours ago didn’t go in our way.”

“Brian, hurry up, quit sitting on your ass.”

He sighs and gets up from where he was sitting and walks toward him and the faint groaning as Brian turned the camera toward two of his friends. The other three he was with aren’t here.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck...be fucking gentle, you fucking stupid—” Brian sighs deeper as he sets the camera down and it shakes as two people hold down a trembling body, then another groan is followed with a painful moan.

“That wasn’t so hard, Scotty, quit being a bitch.”

Brian has the camera back toward himself, but it does flick to a thinner, pale man with blood on his face, lying in the grass with a sock in his mouth, his side is being bandaged up with gauze, and some kind of towel has been discarded to the side.

Scotty spits out the sock. “That really hurt, Tyler…”

Brian walks away, then sits back down. “Two hours...I think, yeah, two hours ago, I was separated from some of my friends. I’m not even sure what happened…” Brian chuckled, “would you believe me if I told you I forgot? I have the tape Evan had, but the other one with Jonathan...I don’t have it.”

“Let’s go, Brian, get up!” Tyler calls.

Brian swallowed, frowning at his friends. “I’ll update you in a few hours...hopefully by then we found where the others are.”

The camera blacks out after a second.


	5. Time

**_10/26/2020_ **

**_11:45am_ **

* * *

“Why the fuck do you have this?” Is the first thing that is heard, and Tyler is glaring at it as he plays with the zoom.

“It’s Evan’s,” Brian said.

“Why does _he_ have it?” Tyler asked, then glancing over his shoulder. “Hurry up, Scotty, you’re fine, just shake it off.”

“It was glass…” Scotty says from somewhere behind them.

"I don’t know why Evan has it,” said Brian. They were walking down a dirt road. The sun was high, but frost clung to the blades of grass around them.

“Did he find out where—”

Brian and Tyler stopped, and looked back at Scotty. Their voices were muffled, then Tyler tossed the camera at Brian who easily caught it in his hands. He peered at it, brows pushed together.

Tyler had Scotty wrap an arm around him so he’ll be able to hold himself up and walk. Brian watched the two, and strolled behind them. They were quiet for awhile until the camera glitched out again until it went black.

By the time it focused, they were sitting on the sidewalk of a dead street.

* * *

**_1:02pm_ **

Scotty was leaned against Brian, while Tyler held the camera.

“Where are you?” Brian asked into the phone.

“Tell him to pick us up,” Tyler said to Brian.

Brian took in a deep breath, his expression tired and sullen while Scotty eyes were closed. “The last attack didn’t go well, we need you to come pick us up. Scotty...he needs better—”

Tyler was bouncing his leg, the camera moved, distorting, a shadow appeared somewhere down the street. The trio did not notice this person.

“I know,” Brian placed his fingers against his forehead. “We just need someone to pick us up.” He turned his head, he shuddered before turning to Tyler. “Grab Scotty!”

“Shit,” Tyler picked up Scotty who was asking what was going on, but they were running down the street.

“Pick us up, for fuck sakes, pick us—”

The camera went dark.


	6. Lost

_**10/26/2020** _

_**1:45pm** _

* * *

“Does it still work?” Evan asked.

The camera was pointed at him after he exited the car alongside Anthony.

“Seems like it, keeps fucking up every fifteen minutes,” said Brian.

Anthony walked by both of them while Evan took the camera from Brian. It was turned to the side where Anthony was helping Tyler and Scotty. The both of them were silent and exhausted.

“Did you find him?” Brian whispered.

The camera went still for a second. “No. I don’t know what happened.” They were bringing Scotty toward them then out of view.

Brian sighed. “I don’t either. Those two-three hours are gone. Do you still have —”

“Yeah. It’s in the car.”

The second the door to the car slammed shut, Tyler’s voice was distorted for a second as Evan turned to face him.

“Where were you?” Tyler asked.

“We had problems of our own,” said Evan.

Anthony joining them. “We have no idea what happened…”

Tyler scoffed, running a shaky hand through his short hair. “And you don’t think we know what happened? We woke up hours outside of the fucking city, no car, no useable phone until we had to steal this one guy’s phone before we were chased off. Scotty was bleeding from the stomach thanks to the glass. And—”

“Nogla might have his own problems with glass right now,” said Evan, sighing.

“We were separated…” Brian said. “The three of us...and yet, I woke up with Tyler and Scotty—”

Tyler laughed bitterly. “Scotty was with Marcel, and he doesn’t know where the fuck he is!”

“What about you?” Evan asked, looking at Tyler. “Who were you with?”

“How the fuck should I know?” Tyler got close, his voice low as he glared at Evan. “The last thing I remember was that street we were on...then SMii7y —” A glitch cut out the frames and audio for ten minutes before returning to normal.

“You said you were chased off, right?” Anthony asked.

Evan turned the camera past Tyler who was leaned against a car, to Brian who was scratching the back of his neck, unable to look at them.

“Yeah...I mean, we all know what that means, right? Even —” the distortion continued for a few seconds. "We ran about eight blocks until it stopped following us.”

“And it might be watching us right fucking now,” said Tyler, glaring off at the other side of the street covered in trees and wooden fences.

“Did it do anything besides freak you out?” Evan asked.

“I’d rather not see what it can do...lately, it’s been fucking with us,” Tyler said. “Can we go, please.”

“Where are we gonna go?” Brian asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s better than standing here in the middle of nowhere while that fucking thing watches us so it can—”

The camera distorts for the next minute, and when it comes back, Evan is sitting in the car with it pointed at the front windshield.

“Do you think we should take him to a hospital?” Brian whispered.

Evan points the camera briefly at Scotty’s sleeping form. The radio is on and playing some kind of Halloween music, but it’s quiet enough none of them complain.

“No,” Tyler answers in a drowsy tone.

“We fixed him up on the side of a dirt road, Tyler, he might have an infection.”

“We’ll go back to one of our places and clean it up.”

Brian frowns at Evan. “I guess that’s it for the conversation,” Evan whispers.

“What are you going to do about the tapes?”

“I haven’t found the ones that Jonathan had, but I don’t want to go back to his —” The glitch cuts out the audio for two seconds.

“I wonder where the hell he is,” Brian inquires.

They’re quiet for a few seconds until Evan turns the camera off.

* * *

**_3:01pm_ **

“Quit fucking turning that thing on,” Tyler says to Evan when its pointed at him.

“I need to document this shit,” said Evan as crying is heard in the background. He turns toward the road where Brian is knelt beside someone lying on their back.

“Is he okay?” Evan asked.

“He’s fine,” said Brian, glancing up. “Just a little sore, that’s all.”

“I’m not fucking sore.”

Evan stepped to the side to look at SMii7y who has his hands covering his face. His brown coat is stained with dirt, and several twigs and blades of grass stick to the fabric. He isn’t wearing shoes, and his pants are ripped. Even his mop of brown hair is messy with clumps sticking together.

“Are you going to fucking tell us what happened or are we going to wait until you stop crying on the road?” Tyler asked.

“I wasn’t here...not a few seconds ago, this isn’t right?” SMii7y murmured, throat raw. “I wasn’t here. I was somewhere else…”

Brian sighed. “We know. It happened to us too. I woke up with Tyler and Scotty on the road. Scotty had glass sticking from his stomach.”

“And you’re...disheveled…” Evan said to SMii7y.

Tyler groaned, then he stepped to the side to force SMii7y into a sitting position. He was wiping tears from his face, and Evan zoomed in on the blood on his fingertips, including dirt underneath, staining his hands with small scratches.

“What the hell happened?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know,” SMii7y answered, looking dazed. “We were on that street, then I was in a forest with—” A glitch cut through SMii7y’s face. “He was with me. It was so dark. My phone died so damn quickly, not like I could use it.”

“We should get out of here,” said Tyler. “I don’t like this.”

“Fuck. I still can’t believe this all happened because—” The audio cut out, but everything else was fine. They were walking back to the car when they found Anthony and Scotty no longer inside.

“Where the fuck are they!” Tyler’s voice grew as the audio returned, the glitch blackening the screen again, but when it returned, SMii7y was sitting beside Evan as Tyler was now in the driver’s seat, with Brian in the passenger.

“Where’s John?” Evan asked SMii7y. They were both shaking.

SMii7y shook his head slowly, staring at the back of Tyler’s seat. “I don’t know. It was too dark.”

No one said anything for some time, and Evan finally turned off the camera.


	7. Dark/Light

**_10/26/2020_ **

**_7:25pm_ **

* * *

“Do you see anything?” SMii7y asked.

The night vision on the camera was activated, and SMii7y’s face was focused on. “Yeah. I can see you.”

“Great.”

Evan turned the camera toward a smooth wooden railing. They were in a house, everything looked untouched, the round tables with flowers sitting in an oval vase, portraits hanging from the walls, dust covered bookshelves and a bench on the side. “I couldn’t find it..."

A bright light blocked out the camera’s vision until it went out.

“Sorry,” SMii7y whispered, lowering his flashlight.

“Right now. We have no idea how we got into this house—”

“Last thing I can remember was getting back to Tyler's,” said SMii7y, his breath coming out in white puffs.

Evan shuddered. "Same, and from the time on this camera, that was three hours and twenty minutes ago." He peeked over the railing, and gasped, zooming the lends to the main floor. There was someone downstairs, moving to the other end of the room after opening one of the wide double doors.

“Who the hell is she?” SMii7y asked, his voice slightly distorted.

“I don’t fucking know, but we should look for—” The camera glitched. Evan and SMii7y were sprinting down a long dark corridor. SMii7y shoving open a door, his panicked words cut out while Evan grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him inside a closet.

“It’s so dusty,” SMii7y whispered. There was a rustling sound coming from him as the camera was looking through a slit in the door. A figure walked by, their noises came out in a low growl, and the camera distorted, including the audio, for several seconds.

“What do you think it is?” Evan whispered.

“I don’t fucking know, but I don’t want to stay here and find out.” SMii7y slowly opened the closet door and they both stepped out. The camera stared at a long dark corridor where only silence was met. SMii7y whispered Evan’s name and he followed him toward the opposite hall.

SMii7y opened the door to a room, and gasped out loud until a hand came down and covered his mouth.

“Shut the fuck up,” Brian said, pushing SMii7y against the wall. “Don’t fucking scream, idiot.”

“Where the fuck were you?” Evan asked, pointing the camera at Brian who was still glaring at SMii7y, but slowly pulled his hand away.

“I should be asking you two that. I lost you back in the basement...and Tyler—”

“We’re looking for him,” said SMii7y, rubbing his jaw.

Brian nodded, then glanced over Evan’s head. “Come in here. _It_ hasn’t searched the room yet, but if we’re quiet, it might not notice.”

Evan closed the door quietly once they all were inside the room. He shivered as the camera distorted again. He didn’t seem to notice this as he and his friends moved away from the door. The cold only grew as the three of them began to shiver.

“Once we find Tyler, are we fucking leaving?” SMii7y asked.

Brian was nodding his head. “Y-Yes...we’ll getting the fuck out of here.”

Evan kept the camera pointed at the door. “Where did you last see him?”

“Outside at the front, he told me to go back in to look for you two, so we separated.”

“I saw him downstairs after you left,” said SMii7y.

Evan was shaking his head. “I thought I saw him on the second floor…” He seemed almost hesitant and didn’t continue as they moved across the room toward another door that was adjacent to the other.

The process of entering one room and the next was slow, while the darkness covered them enough that Evan adjusted the night vision on the camera.

“You still have that?” Brian asked.

“It’s helping me real fucking good right now,” said Evan.

“Do you have any idea where he could be?” SMii7y asked when he closed the door.

Brian shook his head, then gestured to them to follow him. "I don't know, maybe back outside. Took almost ten-fifteen minutes to find you two."

“You didn’t find us,” Evan said. The camera trembled in his grasp, even his voice quivered in its whispered state.

Brian glared. “Shut up.”

“Guys, come on, we have to find Tyler before this—” The camera distorted, blacked out.

* * *

**_7:50pm_ **

The camera was still where it lay on the ground. It flickers every few seconds, and as it caught movement throughout the hall that it was in, it also caught the muffled screams coming from several rooms. Then two dark figures were sprinting down the hall, one of them reached down and picked the camera up.

They adjusted it, following close behind the other ahead of them.

“Open the door, open the fucking door!” SMii7y yelled, the camera now turned down at his feet. Instead of the overall darkness surrounding them, once the sound of the doorknob was twisted and the loud creak from an old wooden door was shoved open, a bright light surrounded them completely.

“Where are we?” SMii7y asked, adjusting the camera now that it was in his hand. He turned it to Evan who was glancing around a bright room with paint peeling off the eggshell walls.

“I...don’t know,” he said, visibly trembling.

“Where’s Brian and Tyler?” SMii7y twisted around but there was no door behind them. When he turned back to Evan, who waved SMii7y to follow him toward a threshold that had no door.

“I don’t know, I have no idea where the fuck we are,” Evan was saying as SMii7y kept close.

“We were just in that house—”

“We just found Tyler,” Evan muttered.

SMii7y shuddered. “I don’t like this, I don’t fucking like this. Has this happened to you?”

“What do you mean?” Evan asked, brows furrowing.

“This...whatever it is, teleporting?”

Evan didn’t look reassured while they stepped on old debris. “I think so. It happened to all of us right. Fucking with time and all.”

SMii7y chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Says it’s eight in the morning."

“I just hope…” Evan shivered, “Brian and Tyler aren't stuck with...it.”

“Same. I don’t even know what it was. Some girl, right? That’s what you saw?”

Evan shook his head. “Once. When we found Tyler, I saw an old man...rotting flesh, burned hair.”

“That’s gross, man.”

“I know. Right now, we should find a way out of here and look for the—” The camera distorted, the audio cutting out their voices, the sky lighting then going dark until the screen went out.

* * *

**_10/27/2020_ **

**_9:01am_ **

“What did he say?” SMii7y asked. The sky was dark, and the street foreboding and empty. He stood near a payphone at a gas station with Evan hanging up the phone.

“Said it’d take about forty-five minutes to get out here,” Evan said, raking his fingers through his dark hair. “I didn’t think we’d be so far out.”

“It really wanted to separate us. I wonder why.”

Evan shrugged and leaned against the flat surface of the payphone. “I don’t know. Brian said he and Tyler were okay. After we...left...all activity seized. The electricity even started working.”

SMii7y scoffed. “Are you serious? Fucking...bullshit. How?”

“I don’t know. I asked if they got a hold of —” the audio cut out for an extended time, while the color began to darken, until the distortion evened it all out.

“So, what? Is it just us?”

“I don’t think so, they haven’t found Jonathan or Luke.”

“Or John...the last time I saw him was in that forest.” SMii7y sighed deeply. “We have to find the others. This is bullshit.”

Evan nodded. “I want to know what he was doing with it in the first place, and if he can—”

* * *

**_9:45am_ **

A car drove up alongside the curb as Evan and SMii7y walked toward it. Brian stepped out, a sobered look on his face as he stepped around the car and embraced Evan.

“I can’t believe it,” Brian said into Evan’s shoulder.

“I’m fine, we’re both fine, Brian,” said Evan.

Brian reached over to SMii7y and pulled him into the hug. “I know. But holy shit...I didn’t think I would see you two again. After..."

“I know, like...we ended up in some fucking abandoned building,” SMii7y told him.

“All I heard were your screams,” Brian said, his voice heavy. 

SMii7y pressed a button on the camcorder, and the screen went dark.


	8. Encounter

_**10/27/2020** _

_**11:36am** _

* * *

“Scotty!”

The scream was distorted as Evan picked up the camera while the doors to the car was shoved open. There were shouts coming from outside as he managed to get out of the car. He pointed the camcorder toward the group of his friends.

He’s shaking as one of them is knelt down, looking Scotty over as the sight of blood is too apparent.

“Is he okay?” Brian asked, his voice shuddering.

“What the fuck were you trying to do?” the one on the ground asked, glaring up at Brian.

Evan kept the camera steady as Brian was stuck for a second before a breath caught between his teeth.

“He wasn’t there, then a second after...there he is. It’s not my fault, Marcel!”

“I can vouch for him,” SMii7y said, a hand raised as he stood by the car. “We did not see Scotty. He came out of nowhere. We didn’t even hit him.”

“He just showed up on the street,” Brian said, his voice once again shuddering as he raked his fingers through his hair.

Evan moved the camera to the others as Brian grabbed a spare blanket from his car. He helped Marcel lift Scotty, their voices were incoherent for several seconds.

“Is he...okay?” Evan finally asked.

“He’s fine,” Marcel said, sounding annoyed.

“Where were you anyways?” Brian asked to Marcel. “We haven’t seen you since—”

A distortion cut to Evan sprinting down the street, a short laugh escaping him. "Jona—" the camera cut the audio as two figures in the distance were jogging towards him.

The shorter out of the two wearing a blue sweater stopped in the middle of the road. He raised his hands, a touch of fear in his eyes. “Evan! You have to—”

“What are you talking about?” Evan asked, shaking the camera.

“Do what I say, if you—”

* * *

_**11:51am** _

The screen went black, and when it came back, Evan was still running, but this time it was pointed at SMii7y who was beside him. Sweat coated his face, and he glanced back, a look of fear rising in his eyes as he turned to say something to Evan. The audio spiked.

“It’s behind us, keep running!”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Evan yelled into the night air.

The battery in the corner of the camera blinked, then it died.


	9. White Eyes In The Night

**8:25pm**

* * *

“He said it was in here,” Evan whispered.

“Why? I thought he got rid of all of it,” SMii7y said, the camera pointed directly at him.

“I guess not,” Evan said, turning the camera and it was pointed at his own face for a second. “We have an empty one, and this one has marker on the front."

“I don’t think we should be playing it right now, not with those _things_ outside,” said SMii7y.

Evan let out a sigh. “Well, we can’t stay here.”

They were quiet for sometime until they moved toward a window. Outside was a dead street with orange light coming from the poles.

“How many?” Evan asked, his voice trembling.

“I counted four, but I don’t see...four.”

Evan zoomed into the dark spaces, but there was no other movement until a car drove by, the light illuminated something solid, and it moved deeper into the shadows.

“Shit,” Evan whispered, lowering himself down. “There’s the second one.”

“Now what?” SMii7y asked.

“Call Tyler, tell him that we were followed.”

“He’s not doing any good the last time we seen him,” said SMii7y. They both knelt down and SMii7y took out his phone. His screen brightness was already lowered while he texted Tyler.

The camera was pointed at the bedroom door left ajar. “I don’t think we should stay here while they’re outside,” Evan said. He was shaking, his voice slightly whiny as he moved toward the door, then he went still as a glitch appeared on the camera.

“I think they might be in the house,” Evan said, leaning forward, then pushing the door closed.

“What the fuck do you mean?” SMii7y asked.

Evan set the camera on the floor and slowly closed the door. “I mean...I can hear them downstairs.”

SMii7y was shaking when Evan turned the camera toward him. He looked smaller, his eyes wide as he clutched his phone with both hands. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t end up like John and Scotty…and we’re fucking stuck, Evan, we’re fucking stuck here.”

“Shut up,” Evan said, crawling back over to him as he peered out the window. The camera went still as the street looked the same as it had before. There was no movement. “I think they might all be in the house.”

SMii7y whimpered, his voice too quiet for the camera to pick up.

Evan’s breath was shaking as he slowly opened the window. The wind outside was light and there wasn’t much sound until Evan picked up the camera. “Come on, this is the only other way we’re getting the fuck out of here.”

“What if…”

“No, Tyler isn’t going to get here on time, and did he answer your fucking text?” Evan asked, crawling out the window.

“N-no.”

“Come on then, we don’t want them finding out we’re here.” He placed the camera on the ledge and helped SMii7y through the window. A glitch stopped the camera for four seconds, then started playing when a scream echoed throughout the dead street.

“Evan!”

He grunted, then the camera fell off the ledge and slid from the roof. The second it hit the ground, the screen went black.

“Don’t—” Voices came in and out as the screen flickered. “Evan!”

“It’s not far!”

“Don’t leave me, ple—”

“Hurry up!”

“There it—”

SMii7y whimpered as the camera was pointed at his face while he was lying on the grass. “Evan…”

“Come on, get up,” Evan said, grabbing SMii7y’s arm and dragging him to his feet.

“It hurts,” he cried.

“Hurry up, SMii7y, we have to get out of here, they know we’re—”

* * *

**8:48pm**

The camera flickered. Grass. A boy with a mop of hair. Tears. Low crying. Dark liquid running down a pale arm. The yellow streets. The asphalt. Their panting as they sprinted, and the low growling that was closing in.

“Where—” the audio spiked, then lowered, “you?”

“We need help,” Evan gasped into the phone as SMii7y held the camera. “Where are you? They’re…” Evan looked back, and shuddered before turning back around.

SMii7y gasped, slowing, then he pointed the camera backwards.

The camera glitched, and it stalled only at a frame of shadows with glowing eyes.


	10. Night

_10/25/2020_

_2:45pm_

* * *

“What do you think it was?” Luke asked, holding the camera.

Jonathan shrugged. He was sitting on the kitchen floor. “I don’t know. I don’t think we should stay here...it might come back.”

“It’s only been fourteen minutes.”

Jonathan stood from the floor, rubbing his arm. “We should go before it comes back.” He looked to the camera and scowled at it. “Give me the camera.”

“It can be useful.”

“No...we can’t, not after what happened.”

Luke was quiet for a second and said, “Okay then.”

* * *

**10/27/2020**

**9:15pm**

SMii7y was sitting on the sidewalk, hands covering his face, his mop of brown hair was tousled, the side was wet with blood. Evan was sitting beside him, hands shaking as he set the camera down, pointed directly to the empty street before them.

“It’s gone...it’s done with,” Evan said with a trembling voice.

SMii7y sniffled, unable to hold back his cry. “Where are they?”

“They’re not here—”

“No...Tyler, and the others, where are they?”

“Tyler said he’s a few blocks down, but they should be here—”

SMii7y whimpered.

“It’s okay...it’s okay,” Evan whispered. “He’ll be here, and then we’ll get out of this area.”

“They’re coming for us...they’re coming for us...they’re coming for us…” SMii7y said in a shaky mantra.

“They’re not anymore, SMii7y, they’re gone.” Evan was still trembling, his voice thick with pain and fear.

A bright light came into the camera’s view as the car around the corner screeched on the ground as it turned, then it came to a sharp stop in the middle of the road. The people inside quickly got out.

“SMii7y!”

“J-John?”

A tall, light brown haired man took quick strides toward the one sitting on the sidewalk. The camera was picked up as Evan stood and pointed it at John reaching down and hugging SMii7y who broke into tears again.

“Evan! What the fuck happened?” Tyler called as he rounded the car. “Why are you covered in blood, why is SMii7y crying?”

"Where's Del- _Jonathan_ ," he cleared his throat. "You...found Kryoz."

Tyler was walking over to Evan, while Marcel was leaned against the car with his arms crossed.

"Maybe ten minutes before you called," Marcel said, glancing at Kryoz then at Evan.

"Your Delirious fucked off when those winged bastards attacked us back on Queen St," said Tyler, waving his hand in whatever direction. "Are you going to tell us what the hell is going on? Where did you and SMii7y go?"

“Jonathan...he said there were more tapes at his house, but the one I watched...it was just him and Luke leaving his place before they were attacked.”

“Did those birds attack you guys?” Marcel asked, looking at Kryoz and SMii7y.

SMii7y was having a difficult time getting up.

“He wasn’t hurt or anything...well, not exactly.”

Tyler scowled. “He’s bleeding, Evan, for fuck sakes.”

“Yeah, I know, we were chased back to Jonathan's place, and we were forced out the window and onto the roof, I fell first, then SMii7y...he caught onto a metal part and cut open his arm."

“What about you?” Marcel asked, joining Evan and Tyler, then patting Evan's arm.

“Ow? I was attacked by those fucking things following us, and no...they weren’t the birds this time. They looked like us though.”

Tyler shook his head. “That’s what Scotty said when he came too, but we should get out of this place, they could be watching us.” Tyler looked at the two on the sidewalk. “John, get him up.”

“I can’t…” SMii7y gasped for air.

“Hey," John said softly, "you have to, SMii7y, you have to get up.”

“I’m scared…” he whimpered.

Tyler helped John with pulling SMii7y to his feet. “Do you honestly want to stay here with those things?”

“No!”

“Then fucking walk.”

Evan sighed while Marcel got back into the passenger seat. “Where were you guys after we left?” he asked when he crawled into the back seat with John and SMii7y.

“Took Scotty back with Brian after we managed to find Anthony.” Marcel chuckled at Evan's expression. "I know. We're popping up all over the place. Maybe Brock and Nogla will also show up soon."

"I hope so," Evan said.

Tyler slammed the door on his side and started up the car.

Marcel nodded. “I'm not even sure what happens when we lose so much time. Anthony didn't even want to go out, he wasn’t in good shape either. He...wasn’t really talking, you know.”

“This is fucking with all of us,” Tyler muttered as he drove down the street.

“I think for now we should lay low,” said Evan.

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Tyler asked.

SMii7y was leaned against John, whimpering with a wound in his arm. John was quietly cooing against him, his hand placed to his hair, avoiding the blood, but making sure he was comforted.

Evan sighed, pointing the camera out his side of the window. “Jonathan knows what the fuck is going on...we need to find him, but we can’t do it whenever one of us vanishes.”

“Turn it off, Evan,” Tyler said, sounding tired.

Evan said nothing as the houses passed them, then the screen cut off.


	11. Dark Forest

**10/28/2020**

**2:05am.** ****

* * *

The camera was turned on to a pale faced man with short brown hair. He stared into the lens with bags beneath his eyes. “I can’t believe this is what I’m stuck with,” said Brian as he turned the camera around. The room was completely dark, and Brian wouldn’t have been able to see without the night vision.

“It’s been some time since I’ve been on this damn thing,” Brian said as he walked to the other end of the room. “I don’t know where the others are. The last thing I remember is Scotty telling me about where he’s been.” He opened a door and looked on either end of the hallways. The floors were covered in debris and glass, there was even the faint sound of rain.

“He and John were in some kind of forest...and they had no idea how they got there…” Brian let out a low chuckle. “I have no idea where _I_ am.”

“Brian!” A bright light came into view, blocking out the camera’s vision.

He made a low whining sound as he lowered himself down. “I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’m not—”

“Shut up, it’s just me.” The low footsteps grew louder as a figure came into view, the light shined away from Brian.

The camera fell onto the floor as Brian let out a high pitched gasp.

“I told you to shut up!”

“I didn’t know that was you, Tyler, you fuck.” 

“Is that Evan’s?” Tyler asked as the camera was lifted from the ground.

“He’s been carrying it around, but I’m pretty sure it’s—” The frames began to break down, the audio cut out, and when it came back, Brian and Tyler were making their way through the long corridors, the camera peered into the sides where trees and bushes have become overgrown.

“Evan’s a dumb child,” Tyler said, “so we should bring this back to him before he starts crying over it.”

Brian snorts. “Where were you anyways? And where are we?”

“We picked up Evan and SMii7y on a street a few blocks from...” said Tyler, sounding far away. “SMii7y was crying on the sidewalk, and Evan...well, he didn’t look so good.”

“What do you mean?” Brian asked.

“I mean, Evan wasn’t wearing the coat he was wearing from earlier. He had a gash on the side of his head, and seemed a little out of it.”

“Did he say anything about why SMii7y was crying and—”

“SMii7y was a little incoherent...John tried calming him down, but he wasn’t really making sense, so Evan said that they were being chased by the _Shadow people_ again.” Tyler swore under his breath.

“Same one that chased us?” Brian asked, his voice pitched and shaky.

“Yeah...but from the sounds of it, there were more than one that went after them. Chased them all the way to Del—” the camera cut out, then came back, the audio was slower, than resumed back to normal.

“Seriously?”

“Of course I’m serious.”

“Then what?” Brian asked. There was a loud snapping of twigs here and there, the crunching of leaves and glass, and their unsteady breaths as they continued through the building.

“I don’t know,” Tyler said with a sigh.

“You don’t remember?” Brian said. “I don’t either.”

“I was going to ask what the fuck you’re doing out here, but assumed the same reason why I’m also out here.”

“Could be the same place that John and Anthony got stuck in,” said Brian.

“Could be.”

They drew near the entrance of the building, and Tyler flashed the light into the wide pathway, a few bushes were on the sides, but from the looks of it, the path had been used many times.

“We should be able to find our way out,” said Tyler.

Brian nodded, and right before they began to walk, Tyler sucked in a breath. He turned off his flashlight, then grabbed a hold of Brian, and yanked him away from the path.

“What the fuck, Tyler?” Brian said, lowering his voice as Tyler dragged him toward a wall where they were both pressed against. Tyler shushed him as he moved to the side so he could peek around the corner.

Brian held the camera with trembling hands as he brought it up, staring at Tyler’s back.

“What did you see?” Brian asked.

“It was there...in the trees,” Tyler whispered, his own breath as shaky as Brian’s, yet there was also a steadiness to it as well. As if he knew what to do in this situation even if he didn’t like it. “I was driving the others back to where you and Scotty were supposed to be, but we didn’t make it. Those fucking bat like things chased us, yanked Marcel and John out of the car, then it spun…” he had his back against the wall, eyes tightly closed.

“Are they…?”

Tyler shook his head, opening his eyes to look at Brian. “I’m not believing in shit unless I see the bodies.”

“What happened to SMii7y and Evan?”

“I don’t know, I woke up here after I stopped the car from crashing into a house,” he whispered as he turned to look around, then he tensed. “Shit. It’s coming this way.”

Brian’s breath picked up as he backed up, and Tyler stayed by the corner before twisting around, his eyes wide, then they were both sprinting through the broken corridors. The camera distorted out any noise, the frames broke down, then for several minutes, the camera went out.

* * *

**3:03am**

“None of this makes sense,” Brian said as the camera was now lying on the grass, barely able to see much else.

“It will,” Tyler answered in a whisper.

“I really hoped Evan could’ve said something about what was going on, but even he didn’t know what was happening.”

“Probably why he went back to Jonathan’s place,” said Tyler. “Just to find out if he had anything to go by, at least we have some evidence to the bullshit we have to deal with.”

Brian chuckled softly as he picked up the camera, then sighed. “Well, that was short lived. It’s running out of room. We’ll need to find another tape or—”

“Evan has one,” said Tyler, “I remember him saying something about it.”

“Then we should get going before that _thing_ follows us out here,” said Brian, pointing it around the forest they were now surrounded by.

“Do you think it’s the reason why the camera keeps fucking up?” Tyler asked, gesturing for Brian to follow him.

“Seems like it.”

They walked for a few minutes until the camera started to pick something up. Voices from somewhere close by, but Brian and Tyler didn’t seem to notice.

_“We’re lost.”_

_“No, we’re not, we’re fine.”_

_“Yeah, then why haven’t we found my car, genius?”_

_“Because I know how to get back and we will get back.”_

_“Sure. Whatever you say—”_

_A glitch cut through the voices, then continued as if nothing happened._

_"Does any of it make sense to you?"_

_"No. Why would someone leave it in the woods like this?"_

_"It's pretty old. Maybe it's garbage."_

_"Maybe."_

_"What about the stuff on it?"_

_"I'll get my grandparents help on that, then I'll update you."_

_"Okay...if we ever find our way out."_

_"We will."_


	12. Lingering Memories

**10/28/2020**

**3:46pm**

* * *

“How did you know we were here?” Brian whispered.

“I guessed,” Evan said, then a clicking sound was heard and the night vision turned on, pointed directly at Brian who was covered in a few twigs and mud covering his pant legs and hands. “You don’t look so good.”

“Did you really guess?” Tyler asked, he was leaned against a tree.

“No. I didn’t. I’ve…” he glanced around, then leaned close, “been here before.”

“You’re fucking lying,” said Tyler, pushing himself away from the tree and walking over to them.

“How did I find you then?”

“The fucking birds or bat things brought you here?”

Evan scoffed. “Whatever. I know a way out. SMii7y is waiting in the car a few blocks down. We should hurry before those _shadow things_ find him.”

“How did you know where we were?” Brian asked as they followed Evan through the tall grass toward some thin trees with low hanging branches.

“I got a phone call from Jonathan, he said that was probably where you guys were.”

“And how the fuck does he know?” Tyler asked.

“He said he was brought here as well, and mentioned...I was here too.” Evan sighed. “I asked him to explain more, but his phone cut out—”

“Or he hung up.”

“Or...he hung up,” Evan repeated.

“Wait,” Tyler said, stopping on the path as he glanced behind him, then back at Evan and Brian. “What about Kryoz and Marcel? They were taken by those winged bastards. They could still be in the forest.”

Evan shook his head. “We would’ve found them by now. If anything, this place likes to push and pull its victims...and if I’m right about that via Jonathan, then they should already be out of the forest.”

“I hope you’re fucking right,” said Brian as they continued walking.

As they make their way out, their conversations were limited besides the weather and how cold they are.

“Why are you covered in mud?” Evan asked, turning the camera to face Brian and Tyler.

“Quit pointing that fucking thing at me,” said Tyler.

Evan sighed. “Are you going to answer the question?”

“When we came too, we were chased by this elongated looking fucker who kept peeking around corners.” Brian shuddered. “Do you realize how fucking creepy that is.”

“Sounds scary.”

“Well, experiencing it is worse, because it followed us into the woods, and it moved way too fast,” Tyler said, his own voice trembling. Either from the cold or his fear.

They were quiet besides Evan whispering them where to go. None of them made much sound until Tyler let out a sigh at the sight of the exit. A wide threshold between two large bushes and a few trees. Once outside, there was a path that led to a parking lot several feet away.

“Where did you park?” Brian asked, no longer whispering.

“Three blocks down, I didn’t want them finding him,” said Evan.

“And what if they do?” Tyler asked, walking on Evan’s other side.

“I don’t know. I go back into the woods, or...look somewhere else, I don’t fucking know. Might have to call—”

A glitch had the three stop in the center of the street. Evan slapping the camera.

“You’re going to break it,” Tyler said.

“If it can stop fucking up, then—”

“Hey, is that Marcel?” Brian said, nudging Evan in the arm.

They looked, and without much else, they started to sprint down the street until Tyler started calling out Marcel’s name.

“You’re alive!” Brian yelled.

“Shut up, Brian,” Marcel hissed, glaring at him. He was also covered in a few twigs, a part of his jacket was slashed open. Kryoz was standing to the side, giving a vague wave with a frown on his lips.

“Where’s SMii7y?” Evan asked.

Kryoz pointed, then walked toward the car. The door was left somewhat opened, and inside, SMii7y was lying on the seats in the back.

“John?” SMii7y murmured.

“Hey,” Kryoz said, his voice almost soothing as he leaned closer to SMii7y.

Evan sighed deeply. “Holy shit.”

“You were worried, yet you left him?” Brian asked.

Tyler was hugging Marcel, and asking what happened to him and Kryoz.

“I don’t know, man, one moment we were in the car...the next...we were several blocks in some park, under a bridge of all things,” said Marcel. “I think they dropped us and we rolled to the cement.”

“Seems like that,” said Kryoz, brushing off more twigs from his coat.

“Okay, so we’re unsure if this is going to happen again,” Evan said, passing the camera to Brian. “I need to get into contact with Jona—”

* * *

_**11/1/2020** _

_**10:02am.** _

“It’s right there,” Scotty called.

A low grunt revealed someone picking up the camera, then passing it off to someone else.

“Is it working?”

Brian’s face came into view as he frowned at it. “There’s a new tape in it?”

“What the fuck?” SMii7y said from beside him. “How...I mean...how the fuck, the tape we put in should’ve been there? Are you sure it’s new?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“It did fuck up when we found Luke on the highway,” said Tyler who was walking over to them.

“Yeah, but everything after…” Brian sighed. “I can’t even remember and I was hoping this thing could tell us everything. Damn it, Evan, why did he drop it?”

They were walking past thin trees and bushes until they came upon a path that led them toward two separate cars.

“Well, since we don’t know much, we should head back,” SMii7y said, already getting into the back seat where Kryoz was sitting.

Tyler looked at Brian. “Are you keeping that thing?”

Brian walked around the car and whispered to Tyler, “We have no idea what happened after we left...we need to find the tapes. Did Evan say anything?”

Tyler pulled out his phone and opened up the text message. “He said where the camera was...took us half an hour to look for the damn thing. And he said he’ll meet us back at his place when he searches through Delirious’ shit again.”

“Again, famous last words from him,” said Brian.

“Whatever. We’ll go back to Marcel’s, maybe Luke came too, and maybe we’ll fucking find some damn answers to all of this bullshit.”

“Stay behind me.” Brian sprinted toward his car, then passed the camera to Anthony who was in the passenger seat.

“Alright, we’ll heading back to Marcel’s."


	13. Words

_**11.1.2020** _

_**12:13pm** _

* * *

“Why does it do that?” Brian asked, peering at the camera.

“I don’t know, but thanks for going back for it,” said Evan. He placed the camera down on a table that faced the both of them. They sat in a dim looking living room, two brown colored couches that faced each other with a glass coffee table in the center. There was someone moving around in the kitchen.

Brian frowned at the camera. “Did you call them about what happened?”

“I mean, I did tell Luke...I don’t think an update would be advised since...Tyler freaked out when we called twice in fifteen minutes.”

“It was only fifteen minutes,” Brian said grudgingly.

Anthony walked into the living room from the kitchen, juggling three beers before handing two off to Evan and Brian, then he sat down on Brian’s right side.

“Should we call them back?” Anthony asked, placing the phone down. He arched a brow at the camera that was staring at them, then leaned toward Evan. “Should we be having that _thing_ on...I mean, you do know what Luke said.”

“And it sounds a lot like bullshit,” Brian said.

“After everything that happened, you don’t want to believe it?” he asked.

“I don’t want to,” said Evan, frowning at the camera. “I’d rather get the whole information from Jonathan, but for now...all we have to do is wait, and see.”

“See what? If _they_ come back?” Anthony whispered again, then glanced warily at the camera.

“Well, they will if we keep talking about it,” Brian said, glancing away from the two, then he looked to Evan. “Have you told them about what’s going to happen.”

Evan shrugged. “I don’t think they want anything to do with it ever since they both got trapped in the woods for...what...several hours?”

“You should tell them that we’re going to leave soon once Tyler bothers to pick up a phone,” said Anthony, leaning back against the couch.

Evan nodded. He grabbed the camera and turned it off.

* * *

_**12:20pm** _

The camera was pointed to the floor, but Evan and Kryoz’ voices were clear in the empty hall.

“I don’t think we’re going anywhere,” said Kryoz.

Evan sighed, “I get it, you know. It’s okay if you two stay here, but if it comes here—”

“I won’t let it take him again.”

“And what about you?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know but I don’t want what happened to happen again, that’s what you and the others are trying to do, right? Looking for Del—” The audio glitched, cutting the conversation for a few seconds until the camera was lifted, and the audio returned.

The frames slowed to John, and inside the room where SMii7y was lying on a bed, a blanket covering his body. Then the frames returned to normal a few seconds after as Evan walked away from the room.

“So?” Brian asked, still sitting on the couch with Anthony.

“They’ll stay,” said Evan. “For now, we’ll have to figure what happened to the others.”

Brian nodded. “Yeah, we haven’t seen Nogla since we went to D—”

The audio cut out for another few seconds.

* * *

_**12:45pm** _

Evan placed the camera down, it was pointed to the kitchen.

“It’s listening…” Evan whispered.

“What are we going to do?” Brian asked.

Anthony made a shushing sound. “You should turn it off.”

“No. He said it doesn’t matter, right now, just write a note for them, and then we’ll have to figure out a better plan unless...it fucks us up again.”

“It's not a thing I want to happen...fuck...it could be happening right now,” said Brian.”

Evan made a sniffling sound. “We should go, but make sure you burn it after.”

The frames slowed, and the audio spiked then lowered as the minutes began to speed up, shadows moved throughout the room as it began to dim.

He was in frame for two seconds before moving to the other side of the room. A small light came from the kitchen with two figures, the flame sparked in the sink.

Evan wandered back to the living room, he picked up the camera and spun it toward Anthony who was writing on a piece of paper, then squeezed the paper in his hand, alongside a few others.

Lastly, as the day began to bleed away, the night vision was activated as only a few lights inside the house were turned on. Then something was tossed in the air and landed on the floor.

Pen. The one Anthony used, but there was no other sound inside the house. A silence that dragged on for far too long until five minutes after, there was stomping coming from outside, footsteps drawing closer until the camera itself was lifted, and faced SMii7y’s wide eyes and heavy breathing.

“They’re gone, John, they’re gone!”

Kryoz appeared from the stairs, tossing SMii7y the jacket. “Come on, let’s go.”

SMii7y was shaking as he sprinted after Kryoz through the front door that was left open. Outside, it was night, a quietness that was disrupted by their breathing as they ran down the street, then the camera tumbled to the ground with a low cracking sound.


	14. Stagnant

_**10/27/2020** _

_**9:20pm** _

* * *

“Did you guys find Nogla?” Marcel asked from the passenger seat.

“No,” Tyler answered.

“When was the last time you’ve seen him?”

“We were at Delirious’ house,” Evan answered quietly beside Kryoz who was letting SMii7y lean against him. Evan turned the camera toward the two, it focused on their faces before he turned it back to the front window.

“And you haven’t seen him since?” Marcel asked, looking over the seat at him. “Why do you still have that fucking thing on?”

“I’m documenting our damn experiences,” said Evan. “And no, we haven’t seen him since we left Del—Jonathan’s house...I think this was around the same time—”

“We were teleported out of the city,” Tyler interjected, sighing. “Brian was with us, and Scotty.”

“That was after our window got blown out,” said Marcel. “I was wondering what happened to Scotty, but I didn’t think he was out of the city.”

“Outskirts,” Tyler said, “we had to hitchhike back. Fuck, that took almost the entire day.”

“No one bothered to pick you up.”

Tyler scoffed. “We weren’t near a highway. To be honest, that whole thing could’ve been a time...thing, right? That’s what happened in that house?”

“It could’ve been, but you guys did find your way into the city,” said Evan.

“Those _Shadows_ followed us,” said Tyler.

Marcel visibly shuddered. “I fucking hate those things. Scotty said they stared at him for almost an hour. Not moving. Like statues. When he tried to move, they moved with him, but instead of away, they moved closer."

“That’s fucked up.”

Marcel chuckled dryly. “Understatement.”

* * *

_**10/25/2020** _

_**3:32pm** _

“Why is that here?” Luke asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan said, picking up the camera. The room they were in was an empty kitchen with dust covered counters. It was bright outside and Luke’s car was parked in the drive way.

“Jon, it shouldn’t be here,” said Luke, looking at the camera warily.

“I know,” said Jonathan, lowering the camera to the floor so all could be seen was his dirt covered shoes, “but I can’t just leave it here, we’re going to have to find the entrance first before we get—”

They audio cut through Jonathan’s words, distorted what he was saying as they left the kitchen.

The white walls were blue to red to pink, purple, white, black, then the lens focused on the door as they walked out of the house.

“Do you think we—” Luke glanced back as they stepped out and the camera focused, “to find it?”

“Seems like it,” said Jonathan, shaking the camera.

“Do you think—”

Jonathan waved his hand nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.”

They walked toward Luke’s car and opened the trunk. A bag was sitting in the center and they pulled out a laptop, then two thin, black flashlights.

“If we’re separated?” Luke asked.

“Doesn’t matter, we don’t get reception in the woods anyways,” said Jonathan.

“That isn’t encouraging.”

Jonathan sighed. “If we don’t do this right, then everybody’s dead, and I’d rather not think about that right now.”

“Alright then.” Luke closed the trunk, and they wandered back into the house. As they neared the door to the basement, the light outside was dimming, and when they opened the door, they flicked on their flashlights, and descended to the bottom. Jonathan looked around the empty basement with his flashlight, including the camera.

“There’s nothing, unless you want to wait." Jonathan chuckled.

“We won’t have to for long,” said Luke.

Jonathan turned around and walked over to him to see Luke gesturing to the basement window. Jonathan looked and hummed contemplatively. “Looks like we can wait.”

It was dark outside, the moon was high in the sky. The camera dimmed, then went out.

* * *

_**10/26/2020** _

_**5:33pm** _

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Jonathan whispered. “Let go of the knife.”

“S-sorry…” Evan said, his voice shaky. “What are you doing here?”

The night vision was clicked on, and Evan was knelt near a tree, the knife was lowered to the ground.

“Looking for a way out.”

“Where were you this entire time?” Evan drew closer, almost hesitant, like a frightened cat.

Jonathan didn’t move besides peering around in the dark with the camera. “I was trying to finish what I started with Luke.”

“With Luke...where is he?”

“Taken,” Jonathan sighed, “like usual...we should be meeting near the entrance. It always wants to pull and push its victims out.”

“Wait, you know this fucking place...a lot more, don’t you?” Evan was now standing a foot away, hugging himself. “What the fuck, Delirious? Are you going to tell me something or not? W-we’re being stalked and attacked by those things.”

Jonathan went still. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“No shit. Ever since—”

Jonathan shushed him. “Don’t say anything too exposing, we don’t want them hearing this shit.”

“What are you talking about? Who?”

“ _They’re_ connected—” the word was cut off, but continued in Jonathan’s whispered voice, “ _they_ can hear everything we say, _they_ can also see everything...it’s kind of like a weird hive mind.”

Evan didn’t say anything for a few seconds while Jonathan gestured for him to follow past several low hanging branches, tall grass, and foliage.

“It happened before…” Evan whispered.

“I know. It’s because we...brought it out, it was a mistake, we didn’t know.”

“They can see us...through the others, as well?”

Jonathan laughed nervously. “They probably are stalking each and every one of us, but we can’t see them. Do you have any used tapes?”

“I think so, yeah. I went back to your place—”

“Why?” Jonathan went still. “Oh...that’s probably where you got this.” He shook the camera briefly and continued walking.

“Where did you think I got it from?” Evan asked. “When they attacked us, I was sent a message...from you to grab it.”

“I didn’t send you a message,” said Jonathan, breathing heavily. “I lost my phone the first time we managed to escape from here.” He laughed again. “It tried to swallow us.”

“That’s probably why I can’t seem to get a hold of you.”

“If I ever do text you, don’t answer back, don’t even pick up the phone. It’s not me.”

“Ok—”

The camera distorted, the shakiness continued, then it fell to the ground as screaming was heard in the distance. The dark woods became lighter, warmer, until there was noises slowly appearing in the distance.

_“It’s right there!”_

_“Is it working?”_

_“There’s a new tape in it?”_


	15. Collection

_**11/1/2020**_

_**6:05pm** _

“Where did you get that?” Kryoz asked SMii7y, the camera pointed to him.

SMii7y was fidgeting with a bag, he unzipped it, and pulled out a tape from inside of it. “Evan left it at the house...I don’t know why these are in here,” he dropped the tape back into the bag, “it was in the room with us...can you stop pointing that thing at me.”

“Sorry,” whispered Kryoz.

The camera was turned off.

* * *

_**6:34pm** _

Kryoz followed SMii7y into Marcel’s house. It was dark with only the kitchen light turned on.

“Where the fuck are they?” SMii7y asked, dropping Evan’s bag onto the floor.

“I don’t know.” Kryoz turned the camera all over the place while SMii7y switched on the living room light, then went still, he whispered Kryoz’ name, and they looked to see some kind of package sitting on the coffee table.

“That wasn’t there, was it?” SMii7y asked, stepping closer to the small square box with clear tape all over it.

“No,” said Kryoz, standing beside SMii7y as they stared at the package. “We should open it.”

“It’s probably not for us,” SMii7y whispered.

“No one’s here, and if it’s not...for us, we’ll explain to Marcel that we didn’t mean to pick through his mail.”

SMii7y sighed. “Fine.” He walked to the kitchen and took out a small kitchen knife. He looked at Kryoz then scowled at the camera in his face. “Point it at the box.”

Kryoz chuckled softly as he lowered the camera to the box as SMii7y placed a hand on the side, then set the knife against the tape and cut through it. There were three layers of tape, but he soon cut through all of it before placing the knife down on the table.

SMii7y cleared his throat, hands shaking, as he began to open the box.

“What the fuck is that?” Kryoz whispered, lifting the camera to display the entirety of the inside of the box and what was sitting within.

“Some kind of paper,” SMii7y picked up one of the objects, “staples on the side.”

“Another fucking tape,” said Kryoz. He reached down for small polaroid pictures and flipped them over as if he were touching a bug, then he let out a shuddered gasp. “SMii7y.”

SMii7y was holding the knife again and was bending the small ends of the staple to get the paper open, but it seemed he opted to cutting through it like he did with the tape.

“What the fuck…” SMii7y whispered, then he cut the rest of the paper, and unfolded most of it.

Kryoz was looking through the polaroid's. Each one was one of their friends, including them. They were sleeping in the grass surrounded by tall grass and trees in various places. Each polaroid wasn’t the same. It looked early morning, afternoon, or late in the evening, and oddly at night as well.

Kryoz focused on each one of them with the camera before flipping one or two over. There were writing on the back in black marker.

“Kryoz, this has our names on it.”

He lifted the camera and pointed it at SMii7y who was showing him the ripped up paper. Their names were written on the paper in scribbled black pen.

“Look at this,” Kryoz said, the camera shaking slightly.

SMii7y set the paper down. “What the fuck is this? What does it mean?” he picked up the polaroid's and turned them around. There was a number on each of them.

A 5 on the back of Evan’s photo, he was lying in the grass on his side, obviously asleep.

A 1 on Marcel’s photo. Another 1 on Scotty’s. And a 3 on Brian’s.

There was even binary numbers on Anthony’s. 01000100 01100001 01110110 01101001 01100100

And Tyler’s. 01000010 01110010 01101111 01100011 01101011

Numbers behind SMii7y’s polaroid, and it seemed it was an address.

“This goes to my house,” SMii7y said, sitting down on the couch and covering his face with his hands.

“Mine has a time on the back,” said Kryoz, showing the camera the back of his polaroid. _3:32am._

SMii7y reached for the paper that had their names on it and flipped the paper, then showed Kryoz what it said on the back. “Don’t trust the number.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Kryoz asked.

“How should I know? This is all so fucked up.” SMii7y groaned, sitting back against the couch.

“We’re missing four,” said Kryoz.

“I noticed that too,” SMii7y said, reaching for the tape. “Maybe we should play this.”

Kryoz hummed. “Yeah. I would like to know what the fuck this is and who the hell is stalking all of us.”

“Worse than just stalking,” SMii7y was rubbing his eyes, “I feel as if I haven’t slept for an entire week.”

The second Kryoz placed the camera down on the table, a phone started going off.

“Forgot you charged it.”

“Yeah, but I also forgot to turn the ringer off,” said SMii7y, then he gasped. “It’s Evan, he said to meet him—” The camera glitched, audio and the frames stalled, and when it came back, SMii7y was dumping everything into Evan’s bag and zipping it up, he looked at the camera and smiled at Kryoz. “Let’s go.”


	16. 3:32AM

_**10/26/2020** _

_**3:32AM** _

The darkness was illuminated by a fraction of light. The clothes moved to the side only slightly as a voice filled the room.

“I’ll be there,” Brock said into the phone, he pressed a button and set it down upon the bed while he turned to the dresser.

“I should’ve grabbed you before I headed out.” Brian.

Brock chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Really...it’s not like any of us expected this, right?”

“Well, the weird messages really got us to hang out again,” said Brian.

Brock was yawning as he took out clothes from his dresser. “I haven’t gotten any of those weird notes.”

“Your name was on one of them, so we can’t let you stay home like a fucking idiot, you have to stay with one of us at least.”

“I know, but...I do think this might just be a joke.”

“A joke? As if.”

“What’s going on with the others?” Brock asked, walking over to the closet the moment more clothes shifted, then went still as the doors opened, and Brock reached in for a duffel bag.

“Oh, you know, Tyler’s complaining like usual, Nogla just got into the city recently, and Evan headed over to Delirious’ when he got no answer from him.”

Brock walked back over to the dresser. “Will he be there?”

“That’s what he said.”

The lens on the camera zoomed closer.

Brock spent a few seconds placing clothes and other assortments into the bag before zipping it up.

“Where did you say we’re supposed to be meeting?” Brock asked, letting out another yawn.

“Uh...right, I was going to tell you on your way here...I don’t want anyone interfering—”

The entire room was blanketed in darkness, including the phone.

Brock let out a shuddered gasp and fell to the floor. “Brian! Brian?” He grasped for the phone while the one in the closet moved out slowly, the camera’s lens refocused, and the night vision was turned on.

Brock was gripping his phone, but whatever he tried wasn’t working.

“Shit…I have to get out of here.”

He was crawling out of the room with his phone, leaving the bag on the bed. They followed after him, keeping their distance, watching his movements. In the hallway, there were shadows moving in and out of the area, some were so still that they didn’t outright breathe, while another did, only to frighten Brock from where he was sitting.

“H-Hello?” Brock asked, his voice shaking.

The lens twitched, a slight interference made itself known before a flash illuminated the entire room. Brock gasped, only to have a slight look of recognition on his face until a slithering shadowy hand came from the stairs and wrapped itself around his ankle.

“Why are you here?” Brock asked right before he was yanked down the stairs. The camera moved, peering down the stairs, remnants of blood lay at the bottom, but Brock was nowhere in sight.


End file.
